Explore "Xanthias Jollied" by Franklin P. Adams on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
AD XANTHIAM PHOCEUM / Horace: Book II, Ode 4. / _"Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori. "_
Nay, Xanthias, feel unashamed / That she you love is but a servant. / Remember, lovers far more famed / Were just as fervent.
Achilles loved the pretty slave / Briseis for her fair complexion; / And to Tecmessa Ajax gave / His young affection.
Why, Agamemnon at the height / Of feasting, triumph, and anointment, / Left everything to keep, one night, / A small appointment.
And are you sure the girl you love -- / This maid on whom you have your heart set / Is lowly -- that she is not of / The Roman smart set?
A maiden modest as is she, / So full of sweetness and forbearance, / Must be all right; her folks must be / Delightful parents.
Her arms and face I can commend, / And, as the writer of a poem, / I fain would compliment, old friend, / The limbs below 'em.
Nay, be not jealous. Stop your fears. / My tendencies are far from sporty. / Besides, the number of my years / Is over forty.